1 Thessalonians 1:4

Verse of the Day Devotion.  1 Thessalonians 1:4

 

“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Thessalonians 1:4 

The apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Church in Thessalonica, along with his friends Silvanus and his student Timothy. “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.” 1 Thessalonians 1:1. Notice here that Paul does not use the title apostle, which shows his care for the people by not denoting a position they probably would not understand. He then continues by thanking God for them. “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father,” 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3. When Paul thought of the Christians there, he was filled with gratitude. Paul started the church there under non-ideal circumstances, being run out of town after only three weekends with them. We read in Acts, “And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a great multitude of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women. But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and coming upon the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. And when they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, these men who have upset the world have come here also.” Acts 17:4-6.

Yet the church was strong and full of life. Paul knew that this work was beyond him and his abilities and it was the work of God. “knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5. Going back to verse three, we read again “constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father,” Paul constantly thought of the good work they were doing and commended them for it. And then he adds, ”knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you.” Paul is not saying God chose them for salvation, but for the work He was calling them to. The phrase beloved by God was a phrase which the Jews applied only to supremely great men like Moses and Solomon, and to the nation of Israel itself. Now the greatest privilege of the greatest men of God’s chosen people has been extended to the humblest of the Gentiles. God chose them because He loved them and they gave themselves to Him. This phrase ‘chosen people’ once only referred to the people of Israel, but now it refers to those who gave themselves to Christ. And through Paul, and now also the Church in Thessalonica, they professed the gospel not just in written or spoken words by conviction and in power via the Holy Spirit working through them.

And finally in verse six, “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.” 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7. Essentially, Paul was saying that as I suffered and endured trials in my work of spreading the truth of the gospel, you were doing the same. They were living Godly lives in the midst of tribulation in joy through the of the Holy Spirit in them.

And as time moves forward, we will find life becoming much more difficult as our belief in the true God who sent Christ to die for us, become less desired and at some totally rejected and banned. We see our culture moving in this direction quickly. We must remember that God will not leave us, but will always be with us, guiding us in reaching out to the lost. We all will no-doubt suffer in some way for the cause of Christ. We must be, as Paul said referring to the Church of Thessalonica, constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father.” It may not always be easy, but it will always be worth it.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Revelation 3:1

Verse of the Day Devotion:  Revelation 3:1 

“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” – Revelation 3:1 

Over seven days, I will be looking at what John wrote, by the inspiration of God, to the seven major churches in Asia Minor.  In these seven letters, God gives a message that is specific to each and speaks of issues that could fit the Churches throughout history.  It is important to look at these and examine our church and ultimately ourselves to see where we stand regarding these. 

Next, Jesus writes to the fifth Church in this list, the Church of Sardis.  Sardis was located about forty miles southeast the Thyatira and around fifty miles east of Smyrna.  It had been the capital of the kingdom of Lydia in the seventh and sixth centuries B.C.  Following the conquests of Alexander the Great, the city came under Hellenistic rule and was the capital of the Seleucid kingdom in the third century BCE. After 133 BCE Sardis became part of Roman Asia, where it was a judicial center. Because they were part of the area ruled by the Seleucids, they have a Greek bent in their religious lives which focused on Greek gods including Artemis of Sardis and Zeus Polieus, the guardian of civic welfare. Sardis had a cult of the goddess Roma, a female deity who personified the Roman state before the end of the second century BCE.

Note the first part of our focus verse.  “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars, says this:” Revelation 3:1a. Only Jesus has the seven spirits (or “seven-fold Spirit,” meaning the complete or perfect Spirit of God), and only Jesus holds the seven stars, i.e., the seven angels (or pastors) of the seven churches. “As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” Revelation 1:20.  He then says, “I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” Revelation 3:1b.  This church had a good reputation; however, they did not live up to that reputation.  The church appeared to be full of people, but the majority of those coming probably were not Christians but were simply going through the motions.  As Jesus had said when discussing this issue, “He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat and went away.” Matthew 13:24-25. 

He then tells the Church, “Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. Remember therefore what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.” Revelation 3:2. Jesus then calls for them to repent of their sin. The idea of wake up is they need to start paying attention to what is going on there and stop pretending to be Christians but make it real; to turn from the sins and live as God desires. They needed to stop looking carelessly about what their real situation was before God. And if they do not repent, then things will not go well for them. “Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason, you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.” Matthew 24:42-44.

After this He adds.  “But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white; for they are worthy.” Revelation 3:4. The idea of soiled garments are clothes that were defiled, physically unclean and ritually unsuitable to be worn in God’s presence. “The LORD also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow and let them wash their garments:” and then “So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments.” Exodus 19:10, 14. The promised reward accords with the character of those to be rewarded: keeping their garments undefiled and white through the blood of the Lamb now, they shall walk with Him in white hereafter.  

Then in closing His message to the Church in Sardis He writes this.  “He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.” Revelation 3:5. Here He reiterates the idea of walking in garments of white, denoting being clean before God.  But then He adds two additional blessings.  First, they will not have their names removed from the Lambs book of life.  This is interesting wording.  This denotes the idea of condemnation, but in a way that people could understand. Our names are written in the Lambs Book of Life from the foundations of the world.  “And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.” Revelation 13:8. God knew who would accept His Son from the foundations of the earth. Jesus, through John uses this idea to urge the Church of Sardis to remain faithful and true, using a method or idea they would understand. And not only will their name remain in the Book of Life, but Jesus also acknowledges their name before the Father and His angels.  Acknowledging someone means affirming a relationship with that person in a way that shows loyalty and favor. Since Jesus has a place of honor before the Father and the angels, those he acknowledges share in the honor that belongs to Him. And this refers to someone who does not shy away from acknowledging Christ.  “Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 10:32-33. 

Therefore, never shy away from declaring Jesus in this world, and acknowledging your relationship with Him.  He loves you more than you can know, and is worthy of all the honor we can give Him.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Revelation 2:18

Verse of the Day Devotion:  Revelation 2:18 

“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this:” – Revelation 2:18

Over seven days, I will be looking at what John wrote, by the inspiration of God, to the seven major churches in Asia Minor.  In these seven letters, God gives a message to each that is specific to each and speaks of issues that could fit the Churches throughout history.  It is important to look at these and examine our church and ultimately ourselves to see where we stand regarding these. 

We now come to the fourth church, the Church of Thyatira.  Thyatira was a wealthy town on the Lycus River in the Roman province of Asia Minor, or modern-day Turkey.  This is the only one of the messages to the seven Churches where the Jesus is called the Son of God. Its wealth no doubt came from the various industries that is found in the city, those being textile and clothing, coppersmiths, potters, tanners, leather cutters and bakers.  It was also a regional center in the Asian slave trade network.  An inscription mentions a slave trader who oversaw the public market at Thyatira and funded festivities for the imperial cult.  Worship in the city centered on the Greek gods Apollo and Artemis, the protectors of civic welfare.  They were originally Anatolian deities who were identified with Apollo and Artemis in the Greek pantheon.  In fact, the Greek gods were given great remembrance and honor among the people, which probably brought much difficulty to the Church in their work. 

The letter starts by, as in all the letters, declaring the good found in the Church.  “I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.”  Revelation 2:19.  The works of the congregation are specified in four ways: “Love (agape)” which includes love for God and acts of compassion for others.  It means giving oneself for others as Christ did.  “Faith”, which includes faith in God and Christ and faithfulness to God and his people. The faithful bear public witness to God in the face of conflict.  “Service” which probably included actions ranging from witnessing to the lost and providing for the needy.  And He adds that they have grown in the works they do, in that the works they do now are greater than when they started.

However, He has an issue with them as well.  “But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bondservants astray, so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.” Revelation 2:20. Jezebel is a nickname that John gives to the woman at Thyatira in order to compare her to Queen Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab of Israel. “And it came about, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians and went to serve Baal and worshiped him.” 1 Kings 16:31.  This woman refers to herself as a prophetess, but her teachings are far from truth, specifically she seduces the servants of God to immoral conduct and to the eating of meats that had been sacrificed to idols.  He gave her opportunities to repent, but she did not. “And I gave her time to repent; and she does not want to repent of her immorality.” Revelation 2:21.  And since she did not repent of leading many astray with her evil teachings, “Behold, I will cast her upon a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence; and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.” Revelation 2:22-23.  And as it says in the above verse, “I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of their ways.” Revelation 2:22b.

And to those who do not follow the ways of Jezebel but remain true to God He says, “I place no other burden on you. Nevertheless, what you have, hold fast until I come.” Revelation 2:24b-23. The faithful believers did not fall into Satan’s trap, and they only needed to remain faithful until Christ’s return.

Then Jesus lists His promises to the believers in Thyatira. “The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my father. and I will give him the morning star.” Revelation 2:26-28. At Christ’s coming the saints shall possess the kingdom over the whole earth.  These blessings include along with authority over the earth, victory over all the enemies, and the morning star.  And since Jesus is the morning star, this means He will give Himself to His Church, and be in fellowship with them forever. “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star.” Revelation 22:16.  Is not this a wonderful blessing to us who remain true to Christ and oppose the ways of Satan and his followers?

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Revelation 2:8

Verse of the Day Devotion:  Revelation 2:8  

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:” – Revelation 2:8

Over the seven days, I will be looking at what John wrote, by the inspiration of God, to the seven major churches in Asia Minor.  In these seven letters, God gives a message to each that is specific to each and speaks of issues that could fit the Churches throughout history.  It is important to look at these and examine our church and ultimately ourselves to see where we stand regarding these. 

Now we come to the Church in Smyrna.  In our focus verse it says, “The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this.” Revelation 2:8b.  This is clear evidence that it is Jesus, the Christ, who is speaking here.  In Revelation one we see both ideas brought forth.  “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8.  Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Among the Jewish rabbis, it was common to use the first and the last letters of the Hebrew alphabet to denote the whole of anything, from beginning to end. Jesus as the beginning and end of all things is a clear reference to eternity and could apply only to God.  Then farther down we read, “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” Revelation 1:17-18.  These two references specifically state He was the beginning and end, but also the one who was dead but came back to life. 

Smyrna was a large, important city on the western coast of Asia Minor, famed for its schools of medicine and science. The words of Jesus to the church in Smyrna offer insight into the life of a first-century congregation.  Jesus starts by acknowledging their trials, which were many.  “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan.” Revelation 1:9.  First, in their physical poverty, they were extraordinarily rich due to their spiritual wealth they had laid up for themselves  in the good work they do.  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;” Matthew 5:19-20.

They also received much blaspheme from those claiming to be Jews but were not. Synagogue members at Smyrna presumably considered opposition to the church to be consistent with Israel’s tradition, since they thought Jesus followers had departed from the tradition by making elevated claims about Jesus.  From these verses’ perspective, their attempt to denounce Jesus’ followers, especially when this could lead to imprisonment and/or death was incompatible with loyalty to Israel’s God.  However, for John who was writing God’s message to them, those who denounced Christians thereby denounced the God to whom they bear witness to and therefore called it blaspheme. Also, the Jews who denounced them joined forces with civic and provincial authorities who worshipped other gods in the effort to get the Christians arrested. 

Then He encourages them.  “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Revelation 2:10. Back in this time, and in the Old Testament times, “ten days” seems to be a round number to indicate a limited period of time. He is telling them to remain strong and not to fear what will come.  He does not want them to be surprised, so He tells them that Satan will have some of them thrown into prison.  The threat of imminent suffering often inspires fear (Aristotle, Rhet. 2.5.1).  However, this revelation counters the fear by giving them confidence that members of the community will not be abandoned but will be brought through the suffering with God’s help to everlasting life by way of the resurrection.

Difficult times are coming for all of us Christians.  Some will go through more trials than others, however, we all will no doubt go through some degree of troubles.  However, one thing we can be confident in, and that is Christ will be with us to strengthen and remind us of the great eternal future we have awaiting us.  Do not let the fear of man and the enemy take away our peace and joy for we know where we are going, and it is a wonderful place. 

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Revelation 2:1

Verse of the Day Devotion:  Revelation 2:1  

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:” – Revelation 2:1 

Over the seven days, I will be looking at what John wrote, by the inspiration of God, to the seven major churches in Asia Minor.  In these seven letters, God gives a message to each that is specific to each and speaks of issues that could fit the Churches throughout history.  It is important to look at these and examine our church and ultimately ourselves to see where we stand regarding these. 

We will start this series with the Church in Ephesus.  “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:” Revelation 2:1.  We know from chapter one what He is referring to.  “As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” Revelation 1:20.   There are many ideas regarding what the seven stars representative.  However, a reasonable explanation is that as the lampstands are the Churches, the angels probably refer to the leaders of each church.  Also, notice the wording in our focus verse.  “To the angel of the of the Church in Ephesus”.  Revelation 2:1a.   

This starts out stating what is good and honorable. “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake and have not grown weary.” Revelation 2:2-3. Christ is telling them through John that He knows the hard work they are doing, the deeds they are doing for Christ.  They are commendable works that show the overall manner of their life.  They had toiled long and hard and patiently bore the hostility of a society at odds with their goals.  And they uprooted those who claimed Christian beliefs and of being apostles, placing themselves within the Church but were wicked people whose only goal was to lead true Christians astray.  And in all this, they did not grow weary, but persevered in the work of the Church. And this was not all that easy, for Ephesus was home to the emperor’s cult and the worship of the Greek goddess Artemis.

However, He had one thing against them which required correction. “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” Revelation 2:4.  Jesus commends the Ephesians for their many acts of good and hard work.  They tested teachers to see whether their professions were real, and  they endured hardship and persevered without growing weary. But they had lost their warmth and zeal for Christ, which caused them to simply go through the motions of good works, motivated not by the love of and for Christ, but by the works themselves. What was once a love relationship cooled into mere religion. Their passion for Him became little more than cold orthodoxy.  And being surrounded by so much paganism and false teachings, they had many opportunities to correct doctrines that were false and confront the false teachers. But these things became, in some ways, the focus of their work and not their love for Christ. 

Christ then says one more good word to them.  “Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” Revelation 2:6.  These were men who encouraged each other to eat that which was sacrificed to idols as well as committing various forms of sexual immorality. Christ called these to repent and return to Him, and commended the Ephesians for standing strong.

 And we face this same challenge the Ephesian Church did, and there are few churches that are not in danger of having a certain number of false teachers. However, it is essential that we reprove these teachers in love. And we can only do this if our focus is on our love for Christ and for our neighbor and not on the act of the false teachers. It is essential that what drives us is our love for Jesus and not anything else.  The Ephesians became toi focused on everything else but in the process neglected their love for Christ.  And when this happens, we leave the love that brought us to Christ and we focus on everything else.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.